“Queer, disabled, woman, Irish; many things define me and my art.”
Omnibus is proud to exhibit ceramic figures by Karen Esther Doyle (KED), a recent graduate from Camberwell College of Arts.
KED is fascinated by art in the domestic setting, the art we grow up surrounded by, sculpture in ordinary homes. She is interested in ceramic figurines; how they make the journey from being objects of wonder in childhood to objects of hate in adulthood and back full circle to fond objects in old age.
Broken and remade they take on a new life; they converse with each other and adopt personalities. In their original mass-produced factory form they strive towards the heights of aristocratic Meissen fine china, always falling short but they still find a home in working and middle class homes around the world. Each piece has a history, was at some point loved, cleaned, cared for and then discarded to boot sales and charity shops where she discover and rescue them. That history and pathos creates an immediate emotional connection to these anthropomorphic, broken, queer figures.
“I enjoy their gentle presence, not quite recognisable on first glance as something different, they reveal themselves on closer inspection. They subtlety conflate two worlds, a world of idealised perfection and aspiration with the glorious messy, broken reality of life,” says Karen. “I’m interested in the Victorian era that gave birth to mass-produced ceramics and placed art within reach of the newly created middle classes. A time with rigid rules of decorum, manners and class yet with a delightfully filthy underbelly of ‘perversion’ & queerness. Massive capitalist expansion, unheard of levels of scientific and technical development built on foundations of colonialism and oppression rocked by revolt and rebellion. Who can’t love an era that created the ‘What Not’ – furniture specifically for the display of domestic art and decoration?”
Come in and experience KED’s unique ceramic sculptures, exhibited in the Bar at Omnibus.
If you would like to exhibit artwork at Omnibus, contact: visualarts@omnibus-clapham.org
